Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Tick tick tick.

Now on the clock -- the NBA players.

Well it’s not quite a clock.

It’s more like a ticking time bomb.

The owners have given the players until Wednesday to accept the latest offer they scribbled on the bargaining table.

And if not.

The NBA will blow up.

Now these players are used to making pressure decisions in 24 seconds.

Or less.

But if they miss this shot, the Association will fadeaway faster than a Kobe Bryant jumper.

Midnight will strike.

And the NBA will explode.

Implode.

Whatever.

At this point, the damage that both sides have done to this once great league is immeasurable.

Immeasurable for now.

When they finally do agree, it is going to be a long road to recovery.

How long?

We’ll find out Wednesday.

The bottom line is that none of us can relate to what these guys are bitching about.

NONE of us.

The debate seems to center around something called BRI.

Basketball Related Income.

What’s that you say?

Let me catch you up.

The players used to get 57% of the BRI.  

The owners said, WHOA... that’s too much.

So they offered 47%.  

The players said, WHOA... that’s too little.

Enter Newton's Cradle.

53.. no 48... 52... no 49... 

Now it’s 49 with a chance to go to 51. 

You lost me at hello.

For the last few weeks, they’ve been bickering over 1%.

ONE PERCENT!

Now in this case, 1% is still a ton of cash.

But enough already.

I couldn’t figure out a sudoku puzzle if you gave me a month.

But give me 10 minutes with these idiots and we’ll have a deal done.

15 minutes if we order chinese food.

Honestly, I don’t get it.

The bottom line is the NBA brings in a lot of money.

And as long as these games keep getting cancelled.

Nobody gets nothin’.

Times are tough these days.

Everywhere.

The OUT OF BUSINESS sign.

Has replaced the OPEN sign.

On way too many storefronts.

And there’s no reason to believe that’s going to change anytime soon.

Businesses are cutting back like Barry Sanders.

And those are the ones trying to stay open.

But the NBA has nothing in common with Joe’s Shoe Repair.

Or Borders bookstore.

Or Blockbuster Video.

Yet.

They are still sitting on a goldmine.

Still.

Last year, the league brought in a record 4.3 billion dollars in net revenue.

That’s billion with a B.

63 players earned 10 million dollars or more last year.

140 players earned 5 million or more last year.

336 players earned a million or more last year.

That’s enough for nearly 34 different 5x5 pickup games.

Between millionaires.

Armani Shirts vs Lamb Skins.

According to the NBA, five million dollars was the average salary in the league last year.

The average.

Per year.

Guaranteed.

That’s one Dr. Evil for every finger.

On your right hand.

And five dozen guys made enough to take care of the left too.

Of course some of the bottom feeders aren’t making nearly that much.

In fact, the minimum salary is not even 10% of the average.

Last year the minimum salary in the NBA was a measly $473,604.

That’s right.

Can you imagine -- the benchiest of bench warmers made “just” $473k last year.

How do you feel about this lockout now?

The owners say that 22 of the 30 teams have been losing money.

Duh!

Throwing around cash like that, it’s no surprise.

That’s why they said that something had to change.

No surprise there either.

Personally, I have chosen to believe that the NBA owners are telling the truth about their bad financial situation.

Even if they are the ones to blame.

Exhibit A, B, C, D & E.

July 8, 2010 -- just one year ago.

The Atlanta Hawks resigned free agent Joe Johnson to a six-year deal.

A six-year deal worth $119 million dollars.

Guaranteed!

And if the Hawks didn’t sign him, a dozen other teams probably would have.

Johnson is no ordinary Joe when it comes to playing the game of basketball.

But when it comes to playing in the NBA, he is nothing special.

In the six years he has played in Atlanta.

He has never made it to the NBA finals.

In fact, he’s never led the Hawks to the conference finals.

But he does have a 500-square foot shoe closet.

Really.

Hey you gotta spend that money on something.

The bottom line here is a whole bunch of rich people have a chance to stay rich if they just check their egos at the door.

And get a deal done.

Saturday night we turned our clocks back.

But that extra hour of negotiating really didn’t help.

At the end of the latest bargaining session -- BS for short.

1:45am ET.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said to the players, this is our offer.

You have until Wednesday to take it.

But if you leave it.

The next offer will by yuckier.

Guaranteed.

Imagine that -- the NBA Commissioner used the word “yuckier”.

Now if you don’t care about the NBA.

You probably don’t care if they ever kiss and make up.

And you definitely don’t care about this blog.

But I do.

I love the NBA.

Well, I love the game of basketball.

It is this BS game of millionaires whining over who gets the bigger car that I could do without.

Make the right call.

And sign on the dotted line.

Both of you.

Tick tick tick.

Under the Influence

I’m not much of a drinker.

Never really was.

Sure there were a couple of nights in high school.

And a few more in college.

Ok maybe a few more than a few more in college.

But somehow I made it to the other side.

Somehow.

Now I love an ice cold beer as much as the next guy.

At the right time.

Like at a football game.

Or on a hot day.

Or a random Wednesday afternoon.

But thankfully I’ve stayed away making it a daily ritual.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Drinking is usually not the issue.

It’s drinking in excess where trouble starts.

And once that trouble starts, it’s hard to make it stop.

As a parent of a 14, a 12 and an 8.

I’ve tried to be as up front with them as possible.

And that includes talking to them about alcohol.

And drugs.

And friends.

I’ve told them to surround themselves with people you can trust.

And the rest will work out.

Hopefully.

We’ll I didn’t tell them the hopefully part.

Right now my kids are at an age where drinking and drugs just don’t seem like a realistic possibility.

To them.

When I bring up the subject, they usually give me the... 

“Are you kidding dad, I will NEVER try those things” look.

The same look I probably gave my dad.

The same look my friend’s son probably gave him.

Gave him.

Past tense.

Monday night I was at a Halloween party when my iPhone started buzzing.

It was notifying me that a new email had arrived.

But what it didn’t prepare me for was what I was about to read.

The email was titled “truly sad”.

And when I opened it, I almost fell to the ground.

Literally.

The 18-year-old son of my friend was dead.

No other way to say it.

Dead.

The suspected cause of death was alcohol poisoning.

The boy spent Saturday night at a friend’s house.

And he never got up.

I don’t know any more than that.

And I really don't need to.

All that matters is that my friend will never see his son again.

Never.

My fingers are literally shaking as I type those words.

It’s been several days since I got the email.

And I still can’t believe it.

Having a daughter in high school now...

(Just saying that makes me cringe.)

Well having a daughter in high school now has forced me to think a lot more about reality than I used to.

And if I ever stop thinking about reality.

Stories like these kick me right in the gut.

Right next to the knot in my stomach.

Of course it’s hard to imagine that any of my three little angels will ever do anything that gets them in trouble.

But the statistics tell an entirely different story.

There are roughly 50,000 cases of alcohol poisoning reported in the United States each year.

And of those cases.

At least one person dies every week.

Every week.

Alcohol poisoning is caused by drinking large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time.

You may know it better by its cool name.

Binge drinking.

In a recent survey, 90% of the alcohol consumed by drinkers under 21 in the U.S. is in the form of binge drinks.

The proportion of current drinkers that binge is highest in the 18-to-20-year-old group (51%).

I could cut and paste all day.

Alcohol Poisoning.

Binge Drinking.

Episodic Excessive Drinking.

Call it whatever you want.

As a dad, I call it scary.

According to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:

• 10 Million people, aged 12-20, reported drinking alcohol in the month leading up to the survey

• 6.5 Million of those aged 12-20 were binge drinkers

• 2 Million of those were heavy drinkers

I know 12-20 is a large group.

And there are a lot of groups within that large group.

But still.

And don’t forget you have to be 21 to purchase alcohol in the United States.

Yeah, right.

Of course, I am not so naive to think that it is hard for a minor to get a drink.

I did it.

In fact, I probably had my first beer before I had my first kiss.

But that’s not saying much.

Sadly the numbers show that underage drinking is on the rise.

But it’s not the numbers I’m thinking about at the moment.

It’s my friend.

I cannot possibly imagine how he feels.

And I pray that I never will.

Must See TV

Eight minutes and 37 seconds that changed my life.

Take the time and watch this video.

You won't regret it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYcc4gQEEjE&feature=channel_video_title

If you want to learn more about Alyce and her family, please visit: 

http://www.youtube.com/alyceiscurious

alyceiscurious@gmail.com

The Fabric Of Our Life

The internet is an amazing place.

With a few clicks, you can see anything.

And I mean ANYTHING!

A few months ago, at 4:03pm, a friend sent me this amazing picture.

In case you can’t tell, these are 1300 boxing speed bags.

Shaped into the face of the great Muhammed Ali.

As soon as I got it, I forwarded it to another friend.

Who is a friend of Laila Ali.

Muhammed’s daughter.

(That’s the closest I get to greatness.)

99 minutes later, I got this reply:

That's pretty cool!

Sent from my iPhone

The reply was from Laila.

How cool is that.

I know somebody.

Who knows somebody.

Who knows Muhammed Ali.

Take that Kevin Bacon.

I’m sure that happens all the time.

But not to me.

My email inbox is loaded with all sorts of stuff.

Everything from enhancement opportunities. 

To more jokes than a night at the Comedy Store.

Most emails grab my attention for at least a second.

Sometimes two.

But I got an email a few days ago that I can’t get out of my mind.

It came from a close friend of mine.

Whose wife is a close friend of Alyce.

Not Muhammed Ali.

Just Alyce.

But Alyce is pretty great in her own way.

About nine months ago her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer.

Incurable kidney cancer.

According to Alyce, 100 people get this type of cancer every year.

That’s it.

And unfortunately her 47-year old husband is one of them.

“Needless to say, this is a sad sad house,” Alyce said.

And when you are the mother of nine-year-old twins.

And a 15-month-old baby.

...

...I don’t have the words to describe.

And I’m allegedly a writer.

When facing adversity -- in this case, the worst type.

Everyone copes their own way.

That is a personal choice.

But for Alyce, her choice was to go viral.

And for the last six months, she’s been posting her life on youtube.

For all to see.

Good.  Bad.  Sad.  Funny.  Sad.  Heartbreaking.

It’s all there.

Now I must warn you.

These videos have absolutely no production quality.

None.

Just a woman.

An unbelievably brave woman.

Sitting in front of a camera.

Many nights in a dark room.

Spilling the dark details.

Of her life.

No sugar coating.

No “everything is going to be fine.”

Alyce knows what is happening.

And she’s not afraid to show it.

If you make it through six seconds without a kleenex.

You are better than me.

Actually, you are less human than me.

Not every one of her videos is intended to be tearjerking.

But when you consider the reality, it’s impossible to hold in your emotions.

Alyce has been posting these blogs, all while taking care of a sick husband and three young kids.

And this is one open book.

Recently she admitted that her son has chosen to think his dad will be ok.

While his twin sister has had other thoughts.

“She wants to know when her dad is going to die.”

“She’s a planner,” Alyce said.

Both of the kids have been in therapy since finding out the terrible news in February.

And during one of those therapy sessions, the counselor recommended a project.

A project for the kids.

A project that could (hopefully) keep their mind on something other than what anyone’s mind would be on.

That project is making a quilt.

A quilt that family and friends could sign.

So when dad is cold, “he could wrap himself with everybody he loves.”

The goal is to deliver this quilt in January.

For his 48th birthday.

“The outpouring of love that is happening is incredible,” Alyce said.

So incredible, it got her daughter thinking.

She wondered if any famous people would sign this quilt.

In a nine-year-old’s mind, if a famous person would sign for her dad, that would show that people really do care.

So Alyce posted another video blog.

As she does every few days.

“I am so excited today.”

That’s how it started.

Then for the next eight minutes.

And 33 seconds.

She tells us about this idea.

This goal.

Of getting a celebrity to sign this quilt.

Any celebrity.

She mentioned some of her husband’s favorites.

Like “anybody from the movie Platoon.”

Or Kiefer Sutherland.

Or Shania Twain.

Or Toby Keith.

But deep down it was clearly less about the celebrity.

And more about her kids.

“I haven’t seen this kind of light from my daughter for a long time.”

About 30 minutes ago I got a link to Alyce’s latest video.

A video that shows Alyce with a giant smile.

At times.

Clearly overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed that Charlie Sheen is going to sign.

And that “all of the Chicago Bears” have signed.

Overwhelmed that people really do care.

Most important, she told us that her kids "feel empowered by what is going on.”

News that would make anybody smile.

But unfortunately that was not the only news that Alyce had to report.

Sunday she rushed her husband back to the hospital.

He was in more pain than she had ever seen him in.

“The cancer has spread.  And it hurts.”

The cancer is physically hurting him.

She then reminded us of the plans to give the quilt to her husband in January.

For his birthday.

Then she paused.

“But I don’t know.  I don’t know how much time.”

If you want to learn more about Alyce and her family, please visit: 

http://www.youtube.com/alyceiscurious

alyceiscurious@gmail.com